Cadence Catch-up with Lewis #23

Welcome to the 23rd edition of Cadence Catch-Up.

People have been asking me how I go about selecting the lead photo I use in each edition. Usually it’s just because it’s an eye-catching image of a landmark to reflect where I’ve been. In this edition, I’ve chosen the Atlassian building under construction near Central railway in Sydney, because it matches the theme of this newsletter: unfinished.

I can’t recall too many times in my working life where so many core issues impacting masses of people feel unfinished. We have an AI revolution that has commenced with a bang but remains very unfinished. We have ongoing wars in parts of the world that remain unfinished. And the pursuit of stronger, more balanced leadership in our institutions, based on some very notable recent events, feels more unfinished than ever.

AN UNFINISHED REVOLUTION

Very few (if any) conversations I have today don’t involve the subject of AI in some form. And it’s clear, as an augmenter to human intelligence, it can save loads of time and lead to better output. But we are at an interesting stage now. The massive consumer uptake has providers scrambling to fund the massive power-hungry and thirsty data centres required to support AI (not to mention finding suitable sites to build them). Investors want to see returns matching the huge risks they have taken. Governments are starting to wake up to the security concerns AI presents. And for leaders in business, the transformational benefits they thought AI would deliver aren’t happening fast enough – a survey conducted by Bain & Co reported 80% of CEOs are dis-satisfied with the pace of their AI programs.

Extracting results from AI is proving harder and longer to achieve than most CEOs expected. And that is because to fully benefit from AI, workflows and workforces need to be re-designed. Shedding staff is the most obvious opportunity, but is that the right play? COVID told us the answer to that question is no. It will be a real test of leadership to resist the obvious short-term cost benefits AI presents, and balance that with a more strategic approach where areas of competitive advantage determine what gets prioritised.

THINGS ARE ONLY GETTING STARTED FOR THE BIG 4 ACCOUNTING FIRMS

Recent developments within KPMG’s audit function signify major breaches of trust and failures of leadership and culture. For those not in the loop, sensitive data from existing clients was used in the pursuit of new auditing clients. Knowing the ethics training firms like this deliver and supposedly live by, these events fall very much into the “What were they thinking?” bucket. Several audit partners have left the firm, leaving behind one almighty mess for others to fix.

Federal Treasury has already positioned a paper proposing regulation of firms like KPMG, PwC, Deloitte and EY. Hopefully it doesn’t prove to be a feather duster. This is such unfinished business it’s not funny. I feel very sorry for the good people left behind at KPMG that must now go through endless compliance training, deal with angry clients and most likely develop concerns about job security as work goes elsewhere. Problems and inefficiencies they most definitely didn’t need. All because a few very wealthy people thought others weren’t looking.

LETTING THEM

I recently read the book Let Them by Mel Robbins. It’s proven a hugely successful self-help book for many people. Its core message is to not waste time and energy on a situation you cannot control. And as a follow-on, the onus of responsibility rests with you in terms of what you do, think or say next if confronted with a situation that might rile you.

I’m finding putting Let Them into practice an unfinished work. If you want to live by your values strongly, it can be difficult to break old habits and just let certain things go. But that is where the Let Me part of the equation comes into play. Sometimes that involves simply doing nothing and moving on. I am finding this progressively easier to do by asking myself the question “Will anyone care in six months?”.

I recommend this book for people of all ages and genders, but from talking to people it is especially helpful for those in their 50s. This “sandwich generation” gets caught up in increasingly complex family situations as parents age, when we might prefer to be doing other things. It’s also the decade where we begin to be more selective about who we spend our time with, as some friendships are reviewed. Not an easy thing to do at all, but highly empowering if you can.

PODCAST CORNER

A bit of a difference this month – I’m featured on a podcast! I was interviewed recently by marketing expert Shandel McAuliffe for her Ceretivity with Shandel podcast. In it I speak about the huge importance of trust in leadership and marketing, a bit about my own leadership journey, and why investment in personal relationships matters now more than ever before.

I found this experience very rewarding, in that it turned the mirror back on myself and made me reflect more about the way brands are built in a crowded market. The way we choose to show up – what we say, the platforms we use, how people experience our value – is worth reviewing frequently. I’ve already started using short videos to mix things up and connect to market differently. Thank you Shandel for giving me the inspiration to do that!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lewis-williams-cadenceleadershipadvisory_lewis-williams-in-conversation-with-ceretivity-activity-7464538851957698560-CtQT?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAA-eRuMBW-ieAo9SNhESvi2wpAER5Xnu5As

Another podcast I must mention is the interview Steven Bartlett did with academic and entrepreneur Scott Galloway for his Diary of a CEO series in early May. Galloway is both knowledgeable and dryly funny – and it’s a perfect way to get a good handle on what’s happening in the world NOW. AI, impact on jobs, trusting big tech, Trump and Iran, investment in human skills, and most importantly I thought, the importance of fatherhood and the positive impacts that can have. I’ve recommended this podcast to many people. Check it out if you have a 2-hour drive ahead of you.

ABOUT LEWIS

Lewis Williams is the Founder of Cadence Leadership Advisory, which provides coaching, strategic and team leadership facilitation and services to individuals and organisations. He has over 25 years leadership experience through senior roles at National Australia Bank and HSBC. Lewis regularly contributes as Adjunct Faculty to AGSM@UNSW on a variety of reskilling, leadership and development programs. He is also a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).

Cadence Leadership Advisory is a leadership development business specialising in coaching people, team leadership and development, strategy review and organisational culture.